photo credit: Beware Pedestrian Using Cell Phones

NY Senator Carl Kruger has introduced a bill to prevent New Yorkers from talking on their mobile phones while crossing the street. The bill aims at making it illegal for the New Yorkers to use their mobile handsets for calling, texting, scrolling through their emails, or playing with their iPod, while walking down the busy New York streets. Kruger said on his website: “You can’t be fully aware of your surroundings if you’re fiddling with a Blackberry, dialing a phone number, playing Super Mario Brothers on a Game Boy or listening to music on an iPod.”

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photo credit: Thermal Imaging Cell Phones

The US Department of Defense is soliciting developers for thermal vision in cell phone cameras and PDAs. According to an article posted by Tuan Mai, Wired, Darpa, the research and development office for the U.S. Department of Defense, sent out the solicitation request on January 24th, with the intention of filling a shortfall for a cheap and efficient, individualized and mobile form of heat vision to detect enemies in low visibility environments. For those of us who are not savvy about these kinds of things, it’s based on infrared camera technology. Firms have until March 9 to respond to DARPA’s RFP for the LCTI-M program. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: My Mobile Watchdog

Are your kids protected from sexual predators? Do your kids have cell phones? While this is a major convenience for most of us, kids and cell phones can pose many dangers. Are you concerned about a stranger texting your kids? Worried that inappropriate photos being sent back and forth? My Mobile Watchdog may be a viable solution for you and your kids. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: Android SMS Bug

Are your SMS messages going to the right person? Have you been sending messages to one phone number, only to have it received by someone totally different? Apparently this has been an ongoing bug in the Android SMS App system for about 6 months. As of today Google still hasn’t fixed the problem. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: Android Market Changes

Google is making changes to the Android Market that affects users and developers. Many of these changes are a very welcome modification. Some, however, aren’t so very desirable. According to an article by Ed Burnette, ZDNet, the changes were to take place in mid-December. The Android Market sent out an email December 11th to give developers a heads up. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: Free SafeLink Cell Phones

Phone booths on every street corner are a thing of the past. With so many cell phones out in the market, phone booths have become almost extinct. So if you can’t afford a cell phone or home phone, what do you do? Rely on neighbors? One solution is a decades old federal program, started in the 1980’s, commonly known as Lifeline and Link Up, which provides low income people with telephone service. This federal program is funded by the little Universal Service Fee on phone bills (both land line and cell phone bills) and this year payments into the fund were expected to reach $1.4 billion. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: Lookout App to Protect Your Droid

It was only a matter of time before malware hit the Smartphones. A new Android Trojan that displays some botnet characteristics has emerged from China, Lookout Mobile Security warns. This Trojan is called Geinimi, and can compromise a significant amount of data from a user’s Android Smartphone, sending it to remote servers. Once installed on the phone, it could allow the server’s owner to control the mobile device, says Lookout. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: Gift an App

Having a hard time finding a last minute gift? Does the person own an iPad, iPhone or iTouch or perhaps will get one for Christmas? Why not give them a gift of an app for their device? It’s easy, inexpensive and fun for both you and the recipient. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: iPhone Toddler

The iPhone is now the toy of choice for toddlers. What? Yes, according to an article by Hilary Stout, NY Times, many parents are now using their iPhones to tame their tantrum-prone toddlers. It’s a phenomenon that is creating concern from some childhood development specialists, (and me). Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: iPhone Office Apps

More and more companies are saying yes to iPhone usage. With the Apple iOS 4 now supporting corporate security, iPhone usage is up. While an iPad or laptop may be more powerful, there are times when pulling out a laptop isn’t convenient. But pulling out your iPhone that you carry with you everywhere anyway is totally convenient. In order to use your iPhone to open and edit documents, you‘ll need a suite of productivity. Read the rest of this entry »